New York Jets superstar Sauce Gardner was recently crowned the new highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
Not a single voter among the 70 scouts, coaches, and league executives who participated in ESPN NFL Insider Jeremy Fowler’s rankings thought he was the best corner in the league.
“Gardner had a respectable 2024 season, holding quarterbacks to an 83.3 passer rating when targeted. He gave up one touchdown and recorded nine pass deflections on 51 targets. And Pro Football Focus recently named him the league’s top corner. This is not a sentiment the league shares,” Fowler bluntly explained.
“Needs a bounce-back year in 2025,” an anonymous veteran AFC personnel staffer told Fowler. “Lots of missed tackles and penalties, and didn’t make many plays last year. Too much, too soon, and thought the NFL was easy.”
Gardner fell two spots in the annual ESPN rankings, going from the No. 3 best corner in the NFL to the No. 5 best CB.
NFL Bluntly Tells Gardner He Belongs in a Different Category
“Gardner remains one of the more polarizing players in the league. He reached superstardom as a rookie, wasting no time entering the conversation for the NFL’s best cornerback. He made back-to-back All-Pro teams from 2022-23, but some evaluators have had problems with his play for the past two seasons,” Fowler explained.
Some voters had Gardner ranked as highly as the third-best corner in these 2025 rankings. In contrast, others had him completely off the top 10 list altogether.
“I like his game, really good feet, long, good at the catch point — but he was getting put in conversations that I didn’t think were legitimate or fair,” an anonymous veteran NFL defensive coach told Fowler. “When I watch the film, I see a top-10 cornerback. I don’t see the top three.”
Despite those criticisms, Gardner was just paid as the top corner in the league. He received a four-year $120.4 million contract that includes $85.4 million in total guaranteed money.
Earlier this offseason, Derek Stingley became the highest-paid corner in the league for the Houston Texans on a three-year $90 million extension. That $30 million annual average set the new bar for cornerbacks.
NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY stated that it was crucial for Gardner to surpass that figure in these negotiations.
“Four years $120.4 million dollar contract extension. The .4 there actually very important because it was very important for Gardner to be the NFL’s new highest-paid cornerback. That is exactly what he now is. The APY of his contract, average per year, $30.1 million, exactly .1 million more per year than Derek Stingley, who was previously the NFL’s highest paid corner,” Hughes explained.
Insider Strongly Pushes Back Against Gardner Criticisms
Gardner has been a human punching bag on social media. Anytime someone catches a pass against him during an NFL game, fans rush to social media to tell him how overrated he is.
“In Sauce Gardner’s ‘down’ year, he allowed 1 touchdown and a completion percentage of 53.2 when targeted. Quarterbacks threw his way 47 times. The TD was tied for second-fewest (5 players allowed 0, 7 others allowed 1), and the completion percentage was 5th lowest, among CBs (outside & inside) to play at least 50% of their teams’ snaps (per PFF),” Hughes said on X previously Twitter.
“You want more PBU, INT — absolutely. But this notion that he was some massive defensive liability is so painfully far from the truth,” Hughes said. “I just can’t wrap my [head] around the hate this guy gets. Both as person & player — unwarranted. He earned every penny of that contract. Absolutely deserves to be [the] league’s highest paid.”
The TD was tied for second fewest (5 players allowed 0, 7 others allowed 1) and the completion percentage was 5th lowest, among CBs
With big money comes big expectations. Gardner is now the king of the cornerbacks in the NFL when you look at his contract.
Fans, his teammates, and the coaches on the staff are going to expect the former Cincinnati product to reach another level in 2025.
Some key points to watch: improved tackling, better ball skills, and consistency on a play-by-play basis.
Veteran NFL Staffer Blasts Jets CB Sauce Gardner Ahead of Camp